Friday, October 3, 2008

Though this recipe has tart in the title, it's a lot heftier than the tarts I'm used to; it's really more of a pie. I baked mine in a springform pan and so the final product was the size of a cheesecake! It had quite the grand presence; I enjoyed just staring at it. :)

You may recall that I wrote a post back in May about two cookbooks that are out of print now and worth a small fortune. This Country Plum Tart comes from one of those two books: The Best of Betterbaking.com by Marcy Goldman, a veritable master baker and one of my heroes. Perhaps that makes this recipe worth a very small fortune, but alas, it can be found on Amazon in the "preview this book" section. And speaking of Amazon, you should buy this book. Just be prepared to pay upwards of $120.

The tart was fun and easy to make, and tasted great. It also involved an interesting technique for the dough I had never seen before. The dough is prepared, then divided in two, and one disk goes in the freezer, the other in the fridge. Now, I'm used to chilling my dough before rolling or pressing it into a pan, but freezing the dough? That's because the frozen half gets shredded on a box grater and then the shredded dough is scattered on top of the plum filling. I'll be the first to admit it was a little challenging to shred a really cold block of dough. But it worked, and looked neat, and put the "country" in Country Plum Tart.

Lightly grease a deep 9- or 10-inch quiche pan with a removable bottom, or a 10-inch pie pan or tart. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the pastry, combine the flour, butter, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut or rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a course meal. Make a well in the center and add the cream, sugar, and salt. Stir to make a rough mass. If the dough seems too dry, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead very gently for a few seconds to smooth out the dough. Divide the dough in half, form each half into a disk, and wrap well in plastic. Put one half in the refrigerator and the other in the freezer for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight.

For the filling, combine all ingredients and toss to blend.

Remove both doughs from the refrigerator and freezer. Roll out the refrigerated dough into a 10-inch round to fit the bottom of the pan, then roll out and press the scraps into the sides of the pan and trim the edges. Mount the filling in the pastry shell.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Using the large holes of a box grater, shred the remaining dough into a bowl. If the dough is too cold to work with, let it warm for 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle the shredded dough over the fruit.

Place the pan on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the juices begin to bubble and the dough is lightly browned. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. If using a pan with a removable bottom, remove the pan sides and slide the tart onto a serving plate.

8 comments:

Joyce
said...

That looks so gorgeous! If it tastes half as good as it looks, it would be amazing. I am one of those lucky ones who owns Marcy Goldman's cookbook but I've never tried that recipe. Well, I know that will have to change...can't wait!!!

Not about the tart (although it looks yummy!), but I was wondering if you've read Julie & Julia. A friend recommended it, and when I read the synopsis I thought of you. If you haven't read it, I'll let you know how it is when I'm done ;) If you have you'll have to let me know what you thought.

joyce - it was really delicious! you should make this. and i'm sure you could swap out different fruits depending on the season.

beth - i'm so happy you liked it!

tiffany k. - Funny. Someone else recently recommended that book to me. Maybe it's a sign I need to read it. And btw, the fact that you read a synopsis of a book and thought of me is super flattering!! Aw shucks!

Ari - thank you thank you. :) and i know, i, too, was in shock when i first learned of the price Marcy's books are going for. if you calculate it out, the cost per recipe is ridiculous! i have to stop thinking like that. :)

Well, Julie & Julia for me was "Eh". It is more like a memoir or something, I don't know. I just couldn't get into it. But, I'm not a foodie, so you may enjoy it. You should at least give it a try. I will warn you, there is quite a bit of cussing in it. If this offends you, you may stear clear. It doesn't offend me, I just wanted to warn you ;)

Tiffany K. - thanks for reporting back on the book. Too bad it wasn't your kind of read. I might try it some time, but I still have 3 more Anthony Bourdain books to read first. Top of the list is The Nasty Bits. And so I guess now it goes without saying, I don't mind cussing in my literature. :-P

About Marni

I’ve always loved baking. I come from a family of amazing bakers going back many generations. And I have two large bookcases in my living room, both of them filled only with my 1000 cookbooks. I even considered it as a career and almost attended pastry school in San Francisco after college. But I went the route of digital marketing and got a Masters in Communication Management from the Annenberg School for Communication at USC. So baking is just a hobby. But I take hobbies seriously! And getting to moonlight as a baker is a great thing. I’m very happy.